Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-04-24
DETECTIVES.
BOSTON oYrfcxRs TELL THEIR Sxpx'
RIKHcx IN cAPruRIxocRrKI
Account Of q Terrible Struggle with a
Gang Of Bold and Desperate
Thieves.
boston Globo1

Zone OF the most entertaining expe-
ricnccs which l ever had in the detec-
tive line" said Captain James +. Wade
the other day, when pressed for an
anecdotc, twas back in the year 1866,
when l was q young man and q new
member OF the Firs. Massachusetts,
State constabulaTy. There had been u
series of housebreakings in the neigh
borhood Of Boston, and the signs indi-
Gated that they were perpetrated 10y the
same gang. / was down at Chelsea
Beach. keeping a weathor-eye open
for 'crooks, when ! spotted d fellow
known TO belong to the fraternity.
He was usually called 'Coal-Oil
johnny but his real name was john
Comfy. He had couple OF pals with
him, and knew they were up to some
Kind of q racket. They left a package
with the bar-keoper of small hotel
there, tied upvith strings and In brown
paper. l had no trouble in getting a
chance to open the bundle. and | found
il, as | expected, filed with burglars
implements. Officers Kirke and Lin
scott came down to assist me, and one
or the other Of us kent sight OF those
tools FOR the next three days. One eve
ming one Of the gang drove up in a
beach wagon, took the kit aboard, and
drove of. One of the officers and
myself followed in q buggy, leay-
ing the third officer to shadow
the other two men, for we had
no doubt the entire party would
come together later. The men went to
Boston in the horse. cars, got lunch,
and took the Eastern railroad train for
Beverly. They calculated on the time
60 we'll that they had hardly alighted
when the beach wagon drove up and
all three were driven rapidly away. 1t
was nearly 10 o'clock by this time, and
/ had some difficulty in following the
wagon. I'got TO the Beverly dept
lust IN time TO hear my officers story
and to realize that the thieves had
escored us. We decided that our best
course was to go back to the bt!acaa
which We had lust crossed and hide
near there until The robbers returned.
There is 20 other bridge leading
toward Boston within several miles.
We waited until about 2 o'clock in the
morning. and were Just ready TO own
ourselves outwitted when the beach
wagon came in sight. We followed it
in our buggy through various roads
back TO Chelsea Beach again, where,
seeing that the driver was making his
way along the shore, drove as fast as
possible through n back road and came
out on the saAds ahead of them. We
got out Of our buggy, and when the
wagon came up | called: Halt &c.
out. We are officers. and want you.
For some seconds there was no re-
ply. Then Kirke opened one door
of the wagon and IinscOtt the other.
Each grabbed IA man, while | stood
by the forward wheel to look out
for the third one. The words spoken
were by johnny: 'Ob, put up your
pop. We won't make no trouble, but
Iinscott soon found that the surrender
was pretencc, and n lively fight fol-
lowed. Shot after shot was fired until
nj last one took effect in the officers
knee. Kirke had put his revolver
squarely against his prisoners breast
and soon had him safe. Twas engaged
with the other man, This was the
Youngest of the party, and 1 will call
him George He fred point blank
mt me. but somehow did not hit me. L
got him on TO the ground, but the fel-
low got one of my thumbs into
his mouth and began to chew it
vigorously. The pain was awful.
/ reached for my handouts with
the intention of knocking him over
the head, when / heard Linscott say:
I'm shot and sprang to his assist
ance. Coal-Oil Johnny, who had fired
this shot, started to run, but turned rs
he went to send q bullet toward me.
A second later ball from my revolver
penetrated his side, aud he fell dead.
We found about 50, 900 worth of silver
in the wagon, stolen from Colonel
Henry Leland and Major Cabot, aud
through information obtained We turned
up a good deal more later ON, taken
from other parties. George escaped
that night and got to New York, whore
he was arrested. L went down to the
Tombs to see him. He stood leaning
against the bars reading a newspaper
when / stopped in front of his door.
As be saw me pleasant smile
came over his features, and he
said 'Halloo Wade; I'm glad
to see You. was in too big a hurry TO
say much the last time / met You he
got a twenty-five years sentence in
State prison for an assault with intent
to kill and for the robbery. The other
man, whose name was Remission, got
long tenn and died a few years later. /
used TO go over and see George oc,a-
sionally. He took his imprisonment
very hard, and was always begging me
TO get him pardoned. When nine years
had passed, believing that he would do
well If he got another chance, | got
pardon for him from Governor Castor.
lie went to work at anything he could
get TO do until he secured position in
an establishment within five minutes
walk OF my Office, where he now occu-
pies responsible place at good
salary. He is married and has
children, and once or twice year he
comes up to my house and takes DIM
ner.
about ten years ago" continued
the captain, "a man named Horner
came to Brockton with his wife to live.
One day the post-Oflice was robbed,
and circumstances showed it to have
been done by Horner, who was sudden
" missing. Mrs. Horner, young and
progressing lady, remained behind,
and when was called 70 the case | left
word that they must notify me if she
left town. A few days after came
telegram that she had started for Bos-
ton. / went to the station. saw her ar
riye, followed her to the Albany depot,
and took a scat directly behind her in
the car. 1t did not take me long to
offer TO raise her window, to remark
that the weather was sultry, and finally
TO exchange my seat for the one
at her side. l grew confidential
rs we rode along, and told her
was Californian, owning big ranch.
and that my real object in coming East
was TO find nice young lady whom |
could take back as my wife. she sym
pathized with my praiseworthy purpose,
and said she would like TO introduce me